Moloch's Archived Reviews

First off let me begin by saying that I rarely ever read let alone review Chaos MagicK books merely because I find most of them full of psychological techniques such as NLP, repetitive information (re: sigilization, Gnosis instructions, etc.) or controlled substance related ideas. Further, many of the Chaos MagicK devotees seem (to me anyways) to fall into that crack in the cosmic egg whereby they're touched in the head to the point they make little sense. Thankfully, not all Chaotes are that far gone and Dave Lee seems to be one of the few worthwhile Chaotes to learn from.

With that said, this is a chapbook. It's saddle stapled and totals a mere 41 pages. It has a stiff cardboard cover with simple type on it. My copy's cover is hunter green and at first glance it looks very unassuming. WMW's table of contents is as follows:

Part 1: Money Magicks and this covers Money Technique 1: Discs & Desires; Money Psychology;Money Sorcery.Money Technique 2: Stalking the Money Spirit; Money Symbolism;Money Shamanism;Money Evocation.

Part 2: Wealth Magick Again with The Hierarchy of Freedom; The Cost of Money; Enchanting for Possessions; Wealth Magick Illumination and Invocation.

Part 3: The Bigger Picture and we find The Money Spirit And Economics; Wealth and Time.

Appendices 1. Discovery Writing. 2. The Percentage Budget. 3. Well Formed Outcomes. 4. A Retirement. 5. Evaluation of Wealth and Money Magick Techniques.

Lee makes an important distinction on page 2 in his Introduction where he discusses the difference between Wealth & Money. He states, "It should not have to be said that money and wealth are not the same thing. However, people both poor and rich do mix them up, so I'll say it anyway: Money does not constitute wealth." Well said, Mr. Lee. He further states, "Wealth is abundance where and when you want it....Money is a parameter, whose value is arbitrary..." If you ONLY get one thing out of this book, I would highly suggest you read this two page introduction over and over and over until you burn it into your psyche. Why? Because this is Lee's fundamental groundwork that the rest of the book falls back on. Consequently by learning these distinctions, Lee is giving you the keys to help you to be able to make ANY future money or wealth (Occult) techniques work for you.

For a mere 41 pages, there is an abundance of useful information within this little book! Lee has added various techniques from Evocation of Money to the shamanistic paradigm of Money as a Spirit that can be touched upon. Then there's the Lord Ganesha Pathworking (aka guided meditation) Lee also touches upon enchanting for possessions and this gives the practitioner an opportunity to think about something that few so-called authors of the Occult rarely ever discuss. The idea of determining how much crap you want to own in your life versus the freedom from desire to want so much. And by focusing on only those things you truly want, you can gain tremendous momentum to your efforts, not to mention the fact that by focusing on an object, you stand a much better chance of success than trying to focus on the exact amount of money to obtain it.

While stretching creativity but remaining well grounded, Dave Lee has distilled and synthesized a number of useful platitudes, attitudes and techniques that should assist any Occultist in obtaining a better lifestyle for themselves. However I'll quote Dave again from his Introduction, Why Money Magick? where he says: "The First Circuit trance is concerned with biosurvival; money is a set of tokens or that basic security." This makes perfect sense. Mazlowe's Hierarchy of Needs does indicate that at our basest instinct, survival is number one. Money helps with that.

Sadly, however, Lee recognizes that money is usually linked to our own insecurity whereas wealth is linked to our desires. He offers plenty of ideas and techniques for the layman practitioner to work his way thru and refine one's own attitudes about Wealth & Money. Personally,I can't agree more. Overcome the first major stumbling block to your own financial success by examining and editing your very own inner beliefs about Wealth & Money, because if you do not do this, all else for gaining more of these two is for naught.

Overall I found the book to be direct, to the point, and not preachy. This is truly a Sorcerer's guide to financial magics and will offer even the most advanced practitioners something new to chew upon. I highly recommend this book for you to get, study and practice. In fact, I've begun my own course of action using Dave's methods in here for my own wealth management program.

I rate this book five out of five possible stars.

This book can be obtained thru IOT Book's website at http://www.iotbooks.com

Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires: The Classical Texts of Magick Deciphered ~ Aaron Leitch

Finally, a Western Ceremonial Magical text from Llewellyn that delivers! Well all I can say is "It's about damn time!"

Aaron Leitch, aka Khephra, is a practitioner of grimoiric Sorcery as outlined in the Book of Abramelin the Mage, Key of Solomon, Lemegeton and others. I first learned of Aaron from a friend who suggested I visit Khephra's website. There I discovered a young lad who was keen on digging into the old books to learn how they did it back then. I discovered his more inner musings on various Occult lists on the Net and struck up an acqaintance with him. His significant other is a practitioner of the African Traditional Religions and this has helped Aaron learn more about how Medieval practitioners may have conducted themselves.

The book itself is not your typical Llewellyn fare. Unlike many of their CM authors, Llewellyn allowed Aaron to put forth his hypothesis concerning the true nature of many of the classical texts of Sorcery such as mentioned in the previous paragraph. While this text is scholarly, let it be known that it's not coming purely from an academic's point-of-view for Aaron is an admitted Occultist. He has performed the six month long rite of Abramelin as outlined in that Medieval text. Further he has created pantacles found in the Clavicula Solomonis aka the Greater Key of Solmon which is also a Medieval text on making talismanic pantacles used to gain wine, women and song. Thus Aaron is knowledgeable on how these books work and that is what he outlines in this work of his.

Secrets goes into a vast array of subjects including: Shamanism, Biblical Prophets, Magical Timing, Elective Astrology, Finding Obscure Ritual Items, Purifications, Creating Invocations, Ritual Bathing, Theurgy, Natural Philosophy & Goetia Conjuring. Each section offers you quite a lot of footnoted material that Aaron has cross referenced where available.

The finding of obscure ritual items is quite handy as the author discusses the pitfalls of finding a virgin to spin your wool, metals for the pantacles, blood from winged creatures, and the like. He offers you some alternatives yet explains the need to go the distance to obtain such ritual items and how that impacts your grimoiric workings.

In the chapter on Magical Timing, Aaron shows the pros and cons of using such a thing even though the debate over its effectiveness has raged for years. Though he settles it with elucidation from a passage found in the Clavicula Solomonis and offers some anecdotal thoughts on its relation to the practitioner as well.

Is this a 'how-to manual'? No it isn't. The scope of the book is more scholarly and digging to help you understand the fundamental reasons of HOW & WHY the classical texts were written the way they were. Further, Aaron offers you modern parallels where applicable in an effort to make things seem clearer and less fuzzy.

Even though this isn't a cookbook, the theory & ideas presented in this text should make picking up a classical grimoire much easier to comprehend and understand. That alone, causes the value of this book to remain high. I dare say that with this book and an English copy of the clavicle, one could easily make a pantacle that would be a smashing success or learn to summon an entity from the Goetia without fear of reprisal.

All in all, the book is an extremely handy reference. While Aaron could not hope to cover every topic, he has done a fine job in those areas in his book. I for one am grateful he has publsihed this material as it gives me a deeper understanding of the traditions and mindset of the Medieval Magician.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 possible stars and highly recommend it to any serious student of either Evocation or Devotional Magics.

Foundations of Magic by J. F. O’Neill

For those of you who’re familiar with me and my approach to Sorcery, you know that I generally scoff at the Magic = Psychology approach for some very good reasons. However with that in mind, I want to say that I think this book CAN work to augment what one knows and practices even within the Sorcery + Spirit model.

When I saw that O’Neill was well grounded in both NLP and Gestalt Therapy, I was impressed that he found it necessary to write a book on how to cast spells. While I don’t ascribe to his theory about Magical Psychology, still there are some positive points that a working knowledge of NLP Psychology can help the modern practitioner learn especially his “Law of Pretending” and “Designing A Well Formed Intention”. Those two aspects alone will be quite valuable to the Sorcerous practitioner.

Another good part of the book is how the author goes about explaining what Hypnotic Trance is and how to achieve it. Trance states are extremely valuable and quite useful to the practitioner and by learning to access them and then setting an anchor to fire them off whenever you want to access them, you have a tremendous advantage against anyone else going thru the old stand by system of having to do long, drawn out rites.

The spell section is thorough but since it’s a Llewellyn offering, there are only the white-washed forms of spells offered. Nothing that would be considered “dark and blasphemous” since it’s “bad karma” (sic) to do so. Oy vay! Then you have that tired old worn out cliché about “Use all other means to resolve a situation before you cast a spell” as if every ritual or spell is going to affect the Macrocosmic universe in some catastrophic manner.

A couple of the spells seemed silly to me such as “Not Taking Yourself Or Your Situation So Seriously” & “Bringing Out The Sun”. I mean come on O’Neill, if someone is wound so tight as to need a spell to get themselves to not take their situation or themselves so seriously then maybe they shouldn’t be practicing Magic at all? And ‘Bringing Out the Sun’ is about creating a reserve of psychic energy for – I presume – later use. One should not need a spell to accomplish this because there are plenty of techniques in Occult literature that give detailed instructions on how to do just that.

The Appendices were very nice to have. The first one is an outline of the steps leading one to self-hypnosis. The second one is the outline for helping you design a well formed intention for your spell. The others I found to be of little value. One other nice thing about the book is that IT HAS AN INDEX! I almost fell outta my chair when I saw this. Why? Well because the majority of Llewellyn books do not come with an index. However the author neglected to provide any Bibliography so we have to take his word on what he wrote and then go and hunt for some other supplemental reading material. Since he’s combining some basic NLP material it would have been nice for him to include his favorite NLP books and authors to help the student get some more in-depth background on the subject.

All in all, it’s a decent book and I rate it three out of five stars.

Pagan Anger Magic by Tammy Sullivan

Well I have mixed emotions about this book. First off it’s a decent try at trying to get the Wiccan community to learn to redirect anger into something positive. The concept itself is nothing new because there have been previous Occult teachers who’ve laid out similar techniques for tapping into alternative emotions such as grief, sadness, depression, love, happiness, etc.

I had hoped the book would be without the token “ethics & karma” discussions but alas a total of fourteen pages is dedicated to these ‘dead horse’ issues. For some reason, Pagan authors seem to have this mistaken notion that their own take on this subject is going to be different than what has been previously been discussed in print.

The sections on meditations and deities is far better than the previous sections where she tries to give an outline on how to “properly” (sic) implement anger into your workings. I have to applaud her attempt at providing spells that are direct, to the point and use the anger emotion effectively.

Her Grimoire section left me scratching my head because some of the correspondences didn’t jive with me (but that’s because I’m a practitioner of Sorcery not Wicca) but I ask you, do you need an oil to help you build anger? On page 203 there’s a recipe called “For Aid in Building Anger” which I find silly simply because if one is studying her book, they should already have an issue that causes them enough anger to fuel a spell.

A spell on page 178, “Energy Booster” did not make sense to me. Going to the trouble of pouring anger into a crystal then boiling it in water? Why bother with that when an old rootwork spell of “pouring your anger into a common stone that you’d find anywhere and then throwing the stone into running water” seems much simpler and easier to perform. And barring a river, one could drop the stone into a sewer system!

But I have to continually remind myself that this is a Wiccan book, written by a Wiccan FOR Wiccans. Thus from a purely Wiccan perspective, it’s a decent attempt at covering a touchy subject. Too many fluff bunnies will miss the point because they’ll focus on the “dangers” of using the anger emotion in a Magical setting. That’s going to be to their own detriment.

All in all, I rate this book 3 out of 5 possible stars. The book does include a useful index but the bibliography is boring and draws upon the same old mainstream Wiccan books that you’ve read a thousand and one times. Don’t go out of your way to get this book (unless you have serious anger issues) but if you have the extra money to afford it, then add it to your collection.

Magic Simplified by Draja Mickaharic

All of this author’s books published by Xlibris (thus far) are small and that should not deter you from spending the twenty or so dollars to obtain each one because they are truly unheralded works. It’s sad when most reviewers only seem to focus on the mainstream publishers who pretty much present us with the same rehashed material just doctored up with a pretty cover. In Draja’s books you will find their weight well worth several mainstream books totaling many times the cost of ONE of Draja’s books! And I do not make that claim lightly!

I’m willing to bet that of those that buy this particular book, less than 1% will actually do the prescribed coursework Draja lays out for the reader. This is sad since what he advocates is sound and the claims he makes are very real and attainable. He begins to explain the concepts of relaxation, breathing, paying attention, controlling your mind, etc., all of which are nothing new to an Intermediately advanced practitioner but for the newbie this coursework is downright a gold mine.

He delves into more intermediate concepts such as Thought Transference and Out of Body Experiences for the practitioner who’d like to be able to learn more about the unseen worlds and their environment. Truly these are subjects which have so much nonsense written about them that it’s difficult to know what’s truth and what’s fiction. Draja takes care of that for you with some very worthwhile experiments and exercises. That and the fact his theory is not laden with prosaic words and drivel is utterly refreshing.

One of my favorite techniques in the book is “The Invisible Hand” which is an extra useful appendage that the practitioner can make use of in many instances but primarily while OBE walking. Also his pragmatic approach to summoning spirits and dealing with these entities is both lucid and spot on. He does not treat them as if they were mere personal “psychological complexes” as so many New Age practitioners are wont to do. Even his advice on dealing with the Elementals is accurate.

All in all I’d highly recommend you contact Xlibris (xlibris.com) and order your own copy of this work ASAP and DO the work! I rate this book five out of five possible stars for accuracy and a tight delivery.

Mental Influence by Draja Mickaharic

For those of you who’re steeped in the herb & rootwork lore of Hoodoo and Conjure-Sorcery, the name Draja Mickaharic will be familiar. He’s the author of such classics such as A Century of Spells, Spiritual Cleansing, and more recently, The Practice of Magic.

This work published by Xlibris (xlibris.com) is one of four thus far released to the public that follow as a series of training books for the lone practitioner. Now this isn’t to say a magical group couldn’t gain something from it, rather Draja’s books tend to focus on individual instruction and assessment instead of group workings. Other books in the series include Magic Simplified, Magical Techniques and A Spiritual Worker’s Handbook. Each book is around 100 pages in length and runs about twenty dollars US but for the quality of the information in them but here you’re not getting quantity but quality for your investment dollar.

The subtitle for this book is “Magical Techniques Used To Control Other People” and before you go freaking all out, please understand the book is not written (at least MY impression anyway!) from a domination standpoint. The book is focused on giving the reader some more ammunition in their ever growing bag of tricks in dealing with difficult people as you walk thru life.

So what is it that makes Draja’s books so prized by intermediate and advanced practitioners? It’s the pragmatic way he takes things. First off the man is NOT a preacher. You won’t find a thick chapter in here on “ethics”. By the time the normal practitioner gets to his level of reading, s/he has had heard enough about ethics to make a sound decision on whether or not s/he should employ any of these techniques. Thus Draja is free to explore many ideas and options for the reader to ponder and consider. And while I may not agree with many things he points out, the remainder is a treasure trove of practical applications that you just do NOT find in mainstream publishers.

Chapter One starts you off with Draja’s assessment of the non-physical influences on communications. He brings up how as children our minds are conditioned and gives clues as to why one person grows up to be a better communicator than the other. He delves into the doctrine of the faculties, focusing the attention, observation and the classic “Kim’s Game” exercise as adapted from the Rudyard Kipling’s story.

At first glance it could be mistaken that this book is more of a work on general persuasion that any sales rep would enjoy and while I’m sure the above average sales rep would find much useful material in this work, still it’s definitely an Occult text! Such Occult topics include Telepathy, Thought Forms, Illusions, & the extremely potent influencing someone at a distance.

Now before you go assuming you’ve heard or read all this before, give this book a try. Why? Draja has a knack for presenting difficult concepts in a very simple way and this proves he can convey such material to his readers. That in itself ought to be enough of a reason to give this book a serious read.

All in all, I rate this book a total of five out of five possible stars for completeness and pragmatic application. It’s worth the asking price and you can do FAR WORSE than what’s presented here.

The Miracle of Psycho-Command Power by Scott Reed

I was not as impressed with this offering from Parker Publishing as I was with Telecult Power. Why? Well in the opening chapter where the book hypes itself, the author explains that the title literally means ‘mind command’. Déjà vu? Wasn’t that what Telecult Power was all about? Furthermore, Psycho-Command references Dubin’s Telecult Power book several times. In other words, it’s a poor follow up to Dubin’s book.

Actually the explanation of the book is deceiving as Psycho-Command Power doesn’t have anything to do with “telepathy” but rather “hypnosis”. And really it’s an old, outdated, poor example of hypnosis as I’ve ever seen. Oh there are a couple of ideas that you may find worthy as I did but overall I wasn’t impressed with it.

A big part of my disappointment with this book is that it attempts to read people by their body language – in one case hand positions – and there is an attempt to explain a very complex subject by the name of “graphology”. This art is where one studies a person’s handwriting to determine what they feel.

Essentially the book is an attempt at getting what you want in life thru hypnosis. While the idea may hold “some” merit in practical application, it definitely has little to do with the Occult or Metaphysics. Instead it offers some very odd ways of working hypnosis including using a series of poorly drawn pictographs to help you program your subconscious.

The book also bandies about Occult terms such as “Invisible Spirits” and then the author explains that this is really your “subconscious”. Lovely, eh? Yet another book out there claiming the Occult is nothing more than our subconscious minds at play. Oh well…

Overall I found nothing – and I DID try to find SOMETHING worthwhile – that I felt that I could make practical use of. If you happen to be a student of hypnosis or the school that believe “magic = psychology” then you’ll like this book. I give it a low one star out of five.

The Miracle Of Universal Psychic Power: How To Pyramid Your Way To Prosperity by Al G. Manning

By far, this is one of my FAVORITE books by author Al G. Manning. Why? Because not only is it immensely practical it is a technique one can use within ANY system of the Occult or Metaphysical path that one happens to be on.

The main technique Manning refers too is the energizing of the seven Chakras. Now before you go and presume you know ALL about how they work and yadda-yadda-yadda, know that what’s going on here is HOW to use them in a practical manner for everyday goals and desires. This is something that is seriously lacking in modern Occult literature and Manning takes advantage of it.

The secret to Manning’s success is his obvious innovations on an old tried & true Metaphysical system. Right from the start, he offers a terrific technique to further charge the Chakras. In fact, he doesn’t discuss how to charge the charkas because he has explained & outlined how in his previous book, Helping Yourself With ESP. This book could be considered a continuation of the previous work on ESP and if you obtained both, you’d be doing yourself something good because that book is good too.

Al goes into various tips and techniques to help you gradually modify the ritual to the point you’ve fine tuned it for various objectives and outcomes. As you continue thru the book, you find other things you can use the rite for such as increasing your personal power and advancing your own spirituality.

All in all, the book is well done as each step is outlined. The downside is only the extraneous “case histories” littered throughout the book but that’s also a pattern that Parker/Reward tends to use in all their books. I rate this book four out of five stars as it is one you should get and use.

Please click on the book title to see more information

The Enchanted Candle: Crafting and Casting Magickal Light By Lady Rhea with Eve LeFey

Lest anyone think I dislike all Wiccan oriented books, here is a true gem in every sense of the word! I found this book on the shelf at B&N and originally thought it was a reissue of another candle magic book by Lady Sara. I made the error when I read the first line of the foreword where Lexa Rosean told how she met Rhea at the Magickal Childe shop in New York back in 1980. Well I'm glad I picked it up and brought it home!

This is a terrific book of candleburning ideas, spells, tips, techniques and advice that you just don't find in your regular 101 Candleburning books. There are no chapters or sections devoted to "Karma" or "The Rule of Threefold Return" which pollute so many Wiccan magical texts. Rhea also gives you a sense of security in telling you that she is not only a trained Wiccan Priestess but also intiated into Santeria and has experience in certain Tibetan forms of Tantric practices. Thus her experiences and training are wide and varied.

One of the best things I really liked about the book is her "talisamns" - which I could label Seals, Veves or Signatures of the Spirits and Occult Forces - which she tells you to engrave into the sides of your candles. For instance, her Road Opener spell on pp 225-227 is a classic spell in the African Traditional Religions but she offers you a nice Seal which you can use not only in your candle rites but draw it out on paper and carry it with you as your spell works. Road Opener is all about opening yourself to all the good things in life you may be missing out on health, opportunities, relationships, friendships, experiences, etc.

Another interesting thing I liked was the Seal for the Uncrossing spell on pp. 176-178 as it is far more unique than the one I use for this all important ritual. However I LIKE her depiction of this Seal and I plan on using it in my next Uncrossing Ritual. This is one of my main reasons for my exuberance over her book: the uniqueness of her originality.

She discusses altar setups for different purposes and this is sadly lacking in any of the basic texts out there. Even though I have a regular altar setup I use in my Sorcery Lab, I still modify it for specific outcomes for the rites I'm about to perform.

Still another aspect she introduces the student to is Letter of Intent which is really a written petition to the Spirit(s) you're about to invoke. What is put down into writing often helps to cement your desire coming into fruition. Sort of like writing a letter to Santa asking for that favorite toy you've been wanting all year.

The Seals she introduces us to in the Money section are both unique and original and very creative. I especially like the ones for the Wheel of Fortune, Lakshmi Goddess, Ganesha and Tara spells.

I was a little bummed out by the lack of original authors listed in her Bibliography. Most of the ones listed are your same old run-of-the-mill new age authors you find on any B&N bookshelf. Other than that, the book itself is superb in both information offered and the layout of the material. I rate it a solid five stars out of five stars for all of the reasons cited above even with the weak & un-original Bibliography.

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Brazilian Palo Primer: Kimbanda Recipes To Make You Win At Love, Money, Business And Life! by Robert Laremy

This is a cookbook. Not in the same vein as making a soufflé is but rather a book on how-to do it with no preaching to it.

Unlike another big time new age book publisher, Original Publications must be commended on for offering how-to books without all of the standard 101 crap such as "How to setup an altar", "Tools", "Ethics", "Karma", "Psychic Development", etc. Essentially these types of books are for those who've got some understanding of the basics under their belt and are sick and tired of paying $15-20 for a book that's three- quarters theory and ethics lessons and one-quarter practical how-to material.

Before I get into what the gist of the book is about, may I say that I'm neither an adherent to Palo nor against it. Palo Monte or Palo Mayombe are officially religions and stem from the same neo-African sources as does Ifa, de Regla Ocha aka Santeria, Obeah and Vodu. If you wish to practice the religion of Palo, then you should seek out a house and seek to get scratched. There are some very viable resources on Palo but most of them are in Spanish or Portuguese.

Palo is one of the ATR (African Traditional Religions) that practices blood sacrifice of animals. One does not merely kill a chicken in Palo as in any of the ATRS, but rather one asks for the chicken's permission to sacrifice itself then when it's soul is released to the Orishas or Inquices, a prayer is said by the officiating Priest for the animal's soul to be allowed to evolve. Quimbanda or its Americanized spelling, Kimbanda, is the Brazilian form of Cuba's Palo and they share many of the same theory and teachings.

This book is not a primer on Palo, but rather it is a handbook of recipes, spells and other assorted errata that non-Palo interested folks may learn from. Most of the spells in the book do not involved any blood thus you can rest your pretty little neo-Pagan head that you won't have to do any animal sacrifice. Also please understand that before one can offer any animals up for sacrifices in the ATR, the individual MUST go thru a long training in how to properly do it so they do not offend the Orishas or Inquices. From the Paleras and Paleros I've had the pleasure of speaking to, the training is intense and when finished it is much like the Rabbinical method of Kosher killing animals.

The first chapter discusses the relationships between the Saints, Inquices (spelled Inkices) and Orishas (also spelled Orixas). To work practical and accurately in the Palo system, one must learn about their Gods and how they fit into the cosmological worldview. The next chapter covers practical spells for the protection as well as overcoming an enemy. There's even a working in there with BonBonGira on helping a candidate win an election! (But will you get it in time to help Senator Kerry win?)

Chapter 3 is about working with the Caboclos. These are essentially Native American Indian Spirits however there are some well known who are European Nobles and most folks just refer to them as Brazilian Indians. Many Caboclos offer a great deal of practical advice in many areas of life. Laremy's favorite Caboclo is Tupi.

Chapter 4 is about the Dead called Egungun. This is about honoring those who have passed. If you think that our Ancestors need only be honored once a year at Samhain, then you have an eye opening coming from the ATR!

All in all, I rate this little book with three stars. It's more or less a teaser in that you want to learn more but it leaves a lot of gaps. Though in all fairness, at 41 pages it is hard to get much deeper than it has. The spells are mainly harmless and if you approach the Inquices with respect and dignity, they "may" deign to answer your request but if you're a non-practitioner of Palo, then don't count on it.

Ceremonial Magic & The Power of Evocation by Joseph C. Lisiewski, Ph.D

This book has been causing a much needed rift among the practitioners of the Ritual Magic community that in reality is a long time coming. The premise of the book is that the Spirits listed in the old grimoires are not "parts of your brain" as the frustrated- psychologists-come-magicians would have you believe, but rather independent beings of great power and thought. Now I have sided with the latter argument for some years now maintaining that these Spirits want and need interaction with us as much as the help we want and need from them. Though I part company with the author in several places in his book. Oh and FYI, this is a book about manifesting the Spirit to VISIBLE appearance right dead in front of you!

First off Lisiewski feels it's necessary to put that "Ph.D" right out in front there as if it's a badge to impress you with. His doctorate is in the field of physics and it is interesting that a scientific physicist practices the art of summoning demons and devils from the underworld. Another thing I disliked is his constant name dropping of his "teacher" - from his descriptions of their contact, it seems they were phone acqaintances more so than an eye-to-eye student-teacher relationship - the late Dr. Francis Israel Regardie. (If you don't know who HE is, then use a search engine and look him up!) Joe seems to find it necessary to link himself to Regardie early on probably to establish in your mind that he's got some lineage or validity behind him. Then he brings out that he was a student of the late Frater Albertus who was not only a Ritual Magician but also had a course in Alchemy that Lisiewski claims to have taken.

Lisiewski does a fine job of explaining that the roots of real Hermetic Occultism does not belong to the Golden Dawn as so many have believed but rather to older sources which have been recently (last 50 years) revealed thru Greek papyrii. Lisiewski does his damndest to take cat-o-nine-tails to the modern New Age authors - which he doesn't name but you're sure he's talking about Poke Runyon, Don Kraig, Nelson White, Konstantinos, William Gray, Dion Fortune, etc. - for their ill conceived notion that the Spirits of the infamous grimoires are nothing more than aspects of our own subconscious minds.

Now in all fairness, Lisiewski does mention on pages 87 & 88 where he asks if there is a psychological basis related to the Spirits from the grimoires and if by transferring this subjective basis from the mind of the practitioner to the magic triangle, ordering it to behave and then re-assimilating, is the practitioner doing some self-psycho-analyzing. Lisiewksi states "I don't know". And it appears he and Regardie (a trained psychiatrist)

had words on more than one occasion about this very subject and that they disagreed. He goes on to say that by viewing the Spirits as objective Entities, it is from a purely pragmatic point-of-view. I agree.

Now as a practitioner of Sorcery who has successfully practiced the art of Evocation since 1988, I take umbrance with the author on two very important issues he raises.

First off is found in his "10 Axions for Success and Survival" - which the word "survival" I found to be little more than trite sounding. In Axiom number 9 where he admonishes you bt saying

"Do not to reject the religion in which you were raised as, nor the commonsense found in what religionists call The Commandments of God. The use of these precepts is crucial in devising an effective subjective synthesis and producing a corresponding coherent, integrate subconscious belief system. It is also the one fundamental axiom every Practitioner of magic rigourously avoids, which accounts for more magical failure than is realized."

I feel his use of the word "reject" is incorrect, rather he should say "despise" as rejecting something and despising it are two totally different views and there is nothing wrong with rejecting your childhood belief system however it's all well and good to not despise it. In essence, don't blame the Buddha, Yahweh, Jesus, Mohammed or any other Deity for your parent's and culture's screwups. The old adage "Jesus save me from your followers" gives rise to this idea.

The next bone of contention I have with this otherwise very worthwhile book is how the author speaks with a forked tongue. On one hand he's telling you that to get the results you want, you must follow the grimoire to the letter and he uses the Heptameron as an example because it requires the fewest amount of implements, tools, sacrifices, and etc. He makes it very clear that you cannot expect to get something for nothing and really takes the New Age Magicians to task for this aspect!

THEN he explains how he gets the Spirit to do his bidding. In essence he fills his head with the power of "God" thru invocation and wrestles control with the Spirit itself. Why wrestle you ask? Well because he believes these Spirits are antagonistic toward him and don't really want to do anything to help him. Once control is maintained, then he charges the entity to do his bidding. The charge has to be worded almost like a court approved legal contract lest the Spirit find some loophole in it and screws him over.

But what is Lisiewski really telling you here? Yes, that he acts like a bully and forces the Spirit to do his bidding without any hope of reward! Now if this atittude was prevalent among Paleros or Santeros in the African Traditional Religions, they'd get Jack Squat for results and abused & slapped around by the Orishas and Nganga Spirits for such insensitive greed.

Here Lisiewski telling you that you can get something for nothing. He offers the Spirit NOTHING as compensation for helping him. Then he goes on to discuss - at boring length - his viewpoints on the dreaded "slingshot effect" and how to avoid it. This is totally unnecessary IF the practitioner asks the Spirit what sort of reward it would like for its services from the get-go. Obviously he never read the classic grimoire "Le Dragon Rouge" because in it the practitioner summons Lucifuge Rofocale & then barters/ negotiates with the Spirit for its help.

In the latter half of the book, he takes you thru the Heptameron grimoire and discusses what you'll need and how to get ready for the event. In this he is superb. His notes are well done and his thought processes are clearly understood.

Frustratingly there is no index and that seems to be a common trait for New Falcon publications. The Bibliography is good and concise. Over all the book is recommended if you're versed in this type of practice. I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner though. I obtained it from Amazon for sixteen dollars and ninety-five cents cover price. I give it four out of five stars.

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Llewellyn’s 2005 Wicca Almanac by Submissions from Wiccans

I was asked by Boudica for her TWPT & Zodiac Bistro sites to review this book. Typically I don’t enjoy reviewing Wicca books & in particular Llewellyn Wicca books because there is so much redundancy in them. However with an eight dollar and ninety-five cent price tag, I couldn’t object. After all even if I didn’t like the articles, the book is still primarily an almanac with useful Moon phase data and calendars.

Well first off it appears that most of the contributors used their real names in lieu of the the fluffy bunny names. I mean come on, “Flame Ravenhawk” is so cliche. And outside of Boudica herslef, the only other contributor I had ever heard of was Elizabeth Barrette and that only because of her work with PanGaia magazine. The rest of the authors all sport seemingly impressive backgrounds.

The choice of submissions must surely be difficult for the editor of such a book. Some of the articles such as “Teaching Wicca to Kids” & “Finding A Good Herbalist” really give you some food for thought as well as some things to take with you. If you bought the book for nothing more than these two essays, you couldn’t go wrong. There is a lot of useful information in each that I think the average metaphysical teacher or practitioner seems to ignore.

For those of us who have children, trying to introduce them into our belief systems is always a challenge what with the continual local governments sticking their noses into our lives. Then you take the herbal article and read it and it’s “HELLO! WAKE UP CALL!” because the prescription of herbs and remedies is highly illegal unless you’re a qualified physician!

Some of the other articles such as the “Pagan Erotica” I found just plain silly. I’m sorry but I don’t need to see a half naked fairy on the page baring her breasts acting demure. Oy vay! Talk about cliche! The article itself barely held my attention & I expected better out of the likes of Ms. Barrette. Ruby Lavendar’s essay on Pagan horror fiction was quite interesting to me what with my literary interests in the horror and sci-fi/fantasy genres. Ruby’s reading suggestions prompted me to pick up one of Mercedes Lackey’s Diana Tregarde mysteries from a local garage sale. Thus far I’ve found that story quite entertaining.

I found Flame Ravenhawk’s essay on Yoga and Wicca was fairly good in so far as I practice a morning short form of Yoga as outlined by Rodney Yi. One of the other essays I truly enjoyed was Liz Barrette’s article on Handicapped Pagans. Finally! Someone in the neo-Pagan community taking the views of handicapped individuals to heart. Particularly how she discusses some of the handicapped Gods and how we can embrace their myths.

Overall I found the book’s essays to be fun to read and as I said aside from a few of them being boring to me or disinteresting, the book is well worth the effort to procure for your own. The noveau patch-work style of pictures and art was too dijointing for my individual tastes but if you're a fan of that style, then you’ll like the accompanying pictures. I rate this four out of five stars for completeness of information (the almanac) and thought provoking essays.

Llewellyns’s Witches’ Calendar 2005 by Various Submissions

Well it’s really hard to screw up a calendar and thankfully Llewellyn hasn’t done that thus far! The calendar is colorful with nice artwork so it’s pleasing to the eye.

Each month has a theme and is written by an individual such as January’s is about doorways and is written by noted author Raven Grimassi whose works on Wicca & Stregha are popping up all over the place.

One of the better essays in the calendar is not attached to a month but follows the calendar proper and is by Yasmne Galenorn. Here she talks about honoring the Ancestors and setting up an Ancestral Shrine, something I HIGHLY reocmmend to any Pagan. In the Neo-Pagan community, it seems the ancestors are only shown homage once per year whereas in the African diaspora, one’s Ancestors are shown homage daily. My hats off to Ms. Galenorn for admitting she too honors her Ancestors in the morning and before retiring.

And the essay on the Orisha, Yemaya as the Lady of the Oceans, was nicely done by Denise Dumars. Here she mentions how you can petition the Queen of the Oceans with a simple ritual and it looks to me like Denise did her homework.

The calendar itself is useful to have around with the planetary data, Moon phases, and which Astrological sign the Moon is currently in all helps to facilitate your Magical practices – especially if you’re observant of such things.

All in all, I found the calendar to be terrific to add to your temple wall OR like me where I have my office. Plus at a price of only twelve dollars and ninety-five cents, it’s a nice piece of art to hang. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Reclaiming The Gods: Magic, Sex, Death and Football by Nicholas R. Mann

When Boudica asked me to review this book, I thought, "Oh great. Yet another Brit who's going to bore us to death about the Lord aspect in Witchcraft and fertility religions and the football is obviously Soccer!" Well I'm glad I was wrong. If you enjoyed the Farrar's "The Witch's God", you'll enjoy this book even better.

Mann starts out with an interesting way of dichotomizing the various aspects of the God within the chapters by entitling them like "Guide to the Underworld", "Shape-Shifter", "The Destroyer and the Destroyed", "The Rising, Climaxing and Falling God" and of course "The God of Games". There are 25 short chapters in all and they are all independent of one another.

Mann basically discusses the various mythological aspects of the God in each chapter and then he gives two or more examples of Gods from different mythological pantheons who fill that role. And to his credit, he does not merely just list the Gods for that particular role, but he explains how the God fits into that role as well.

My personal favorite chapters were 18 "Good & Evil", 19 "The Devil" & 20 "God of Games" where he discusses American Football, not Soccer and how he mentions how the God of the Games "&ldots;it is the contest sought by the God of Games. He is not interested in unequaled or overwhelming odds, in occupation or deceit. He wants to see two or more equally matched men attempt to use every ability at their disposal: mental, physical, emotional and spiritual, to contest each other for greatness and honour." Then he goes on to mention how the Irish hero, Cuchulainn, entered a game of hurling when he arrived at the royal seat Ulster, Emain Macha. In Rome, Mars was the Lord of the Games and in Irelan, Teutates ruled over the games.

The bibliography is good as is the index. The only problem with this promotional copy is there's no price on the cover. Michael Mann lives in Glastonbury and has two previous works published that I've not read yet.

I give this book 5 stars from the fact that it's chock full of material to consider about the Male aspect of Deity when so much is written and doted upon the Female aspect within the Neo-Pagan community. It's also laid out well and the material is first rate. I think every Wiccan or Pagan practitioner who decides to want to work with Deity, should consider obtaining a copy of this particular work.

Practice of Magic: An Introductory Guide to the Art by Draja Mikaharic

What a gem! If you have not read this introductory book on practical Occultism, let me tell you to run out and buy a copy NOW!

Mikaharic is one of those unsung heroes in the Occult who has not only successfully practiced what he preaches but also has developed his own system of practical Occultism (like yours truly!;o) Unlike a lot of the authors out there who play follow-the-follower when it comes to writing about Occultism be it Witchcraft, Vodu, Ritual Magic, etc., Mikaharic does his own researches, formulates his theory, tests his theory and then doing this over and over again after which THEN tells you what actually works.

Born in rural Bosnia prior to WWI, Mikaharic he immigrated to the US in the late 30s and made his living practicing Occultism and passing himself off as a "witchdoctor".

The book covers many subjects from Religious Ritual to learning Natural Magic and much in between. Ritual and Ceremonial Magic, Elemental Magic, Candle Magic, etc. However you may ho-hum the book and say "Been there, read that!" and probably you have. Yet the author gives personal anecdotes and experiences that are typically NOT found in your average "new age practitioners" book that you spent 1 ½ to 2 times the amount of money to get. (My copy retailed for only nine dollars and ninety-five cents).

The exercises while basic in content and form offer some truly unique results if the dedicant perseveres enough. He even relates how his first teacher admonished him after he sent Mikaharic away with the command to practice the art of relaxation. After four months of diligent practice, Mikaharic went back to his teacher only to discover he had not mastered this subtle but necessary art fully. Thus he was told to not come back until he had done so. After another six months of diligent practice, he was ready to continue.

There are other exercises sprinkled throughout the book that you can make use of after you've practiced and mastered them. Under the chapter on Deific Magic, the author discusses the forces at present in the objective universe and how many devotees of magico-religious systems learn to grow under the tutelege and guidance of such powers.

There is a nice Bibliography and a worthwhile Index for you to use. If you know of a beginner who really wants to do it the right way, THIS is one of the better primers you'll be able to lead them too. It should be required reading in all covens, lodges and temples regardless of the path. I have recommended it to my students in my Sorcery tradition as well. And yes I practice the exercises dutifully.

I rate this work 5 stars as it is complete, touches on a wide variety of topics and is not preachy but guiding. The author has chutzpah and practices what he preaches. He's also the author of two other essential books that you may want to look up and obtain as well.

Necronomicon ~ Nox Arcana

I first heard about this group, Nox Arcana, thru a postcard advertisement I got from Monolith Graphics when I ordered their Fortune Telling deck (see other review).

Are you a fan of the Lovecraftian Cthulhuian Mythos as I am? If you are, you’ll want this CD. Or possibly you’re into the RPG (role playing game) “Call of Cthulhu” (by Chaosium Games)? If so, you’ll want this CD. Or perhaps you’re into disturbing, nightside Magical rituals including guided meditations or pathworking the Dark Side of the Tree of Life? Then you too will want this CD!

Nox Arcana (www.noxarcana.com) is a menagerie of talent of two guys: Joseph Vargo who provides the haunting and whispering invocations and William Piotrowski who is all of the music. Together they weave a disturbing tapestry horror music. This music will give you the perfect setting for flesh crawling reading of the Mythos stories or a demented guided meditation or your Kenneth Grant inspired magical rituals or just plain ol background muzak for your horror RPGs.

Thankfully it is instrumental as lyrics can oftentimes cause disturbances in one’s concentration during Magical Workings. This is not a slam against Vargo’s poetic recitations at all rather his lyrics are placed in key strategic places that allow one to travel their own path while listening to the music and embracing the Mythos as it was meant to be.

One method I’m sure will probably become quite popular is to slide in your favorite DVD or VHS tape of a Lovecraft movie such as The Dunwich Horror then turning down the volume of the movie and cranking up this musical CD on your surround sound system and watching the chilling effects this CD will evoke from your primal fears.

I rate this CD an outstanding five out of five stars! The ten dollar price tag is far and above worth its asking price especially in light of the fact that most musical CDs are now fetching upwards of eighteen dollars plus. Contact Monolith Graphics at www.monolithgraphics.com and tell them Moloch sent you!

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells And Rituals by Chris Penczak

I was very disappointed in this work on the whole and the reason for that is the book offers virtually nothing new to the Neophyte Wiccans out there that they have not found in previously released Llewellyn books on Witchcraft and Wicca.

Penczak offers this book as a follow up to his "The Inner Temple of Witchcraft" and if you're of the mind to have a couple of 101 books that take you thru some of the bare bones basics plus a fair amount of supportive material such as planetary correspondences and what-not, then this book and its predecessor are the ones you want.

Frankly if you're not tired of reading 101 Witchcraft material, then you could do no worse than Penczak's material. The material covers the usual - grounding, altars, ethics, karma, etc., etc. Chapter 8 begins with the "science" of spell craft where he gets into theory. He dichotomizes spell craft thru petitions and he claims on page 256 that it's "proper witch etiquette suggests you do only three spells per circle" and only one circle per day. Now nowhere prior to this reference have I ever heard of this restriction before.

As he discusses the Planets and their functions in spell craft, Penczak does give a minor explanation about each individual deity after which the planet is so named. Frankly I preferred his discussion on the Zodiac Signs from pp. 271-279 as it's material that's rarely put forth in your typical Wicca 101 book. The Ritual Record Sheet 288 is nicely done though the lines are spaced too close together for my sloppy handwriting to be able to legibly read it later.

With his definition of "Sorcery" on page 295, Penczak makes me wonder if indeed he's been lurking on one of my Sorcery groups as he nails it right on the head. Then I was impressed with his explanations of Talismans and the art of making Sigils. This is a rare thing for a Witchcraft 101 book and I applaud him for introducing this art to his students.

Finally Penczak goes on to discuss the wheel of the year, the gods and how to form a coven in the last few chapters to help round out the 101 curriculum. Sadly the bibliography only includes the typical Llewellyn fare of experts (sic) and frankly if you have most of the books listed in the bibliography, I see little reason to buy this book for its pricey tag.

Penczak has penned a decent follow up to his previous book and together they make an excellent set. In fact, if you're of a mind to give two books that'll take someone from knowing nothing to being a 101 Newbie in the Craft, then these would be the ones you'd want to consider giving them.

Becomng Magick by David Rankine

Rankine is interesting to say the least. He seems to be at least in his forties because he's speaking about practicing for several decades. He's also written articles for UK magazines under the pseudonym of "Jack Dracula".

Part of the book had me enthralled and other parts left me dry. If you happen to be a practitioner with a flavor of old Khem, then all his Maat/Nuit stuff will be to your liking. (Same holds true for the Crowleyites).

Some of his material reads like a Chaos practitioner wrote it especially chapter 5 the "Angle Webs" section. This is a technique to create a sigil on top of a sigil. The web it seems is used to help dispense the power of the original sigil itself. Though on page, Rankine suggests making an Angle Web of the Hiroshima Blast to draw in its power. For what purposes I haven't a clue as he does not discuss this.

What really caught my attention was his discussion on the "Prime Qabalah" beginning on page 41. In essence it is his version of Gematria for the English language. The instances he cited such as "Beast", "Desire" and "Sex" all add up to 152 which not only HE found fascinating but I did as well! Then on page 45, Rankine offers some ideas about using some Hebrew Qabalah techniques like Temurah and others with his Prime Qabalah Gematria. I found the exercise to be stimulating and enjoyable.

Then on page 49, he begins with the Mysteries of the Hebrew Alphabet. Um hasn't this been hashed and rehashed before? I didn't see anything worth my time in reading this and besides I tend to shy away from the Hebrew material since I'm not Jewish and don't really feel the connection to it.

Page 61 is where he will lose Zad, myself and others because he begins discussing the Kalas as discussed by none other than that toady old gent from England's OTO, Kenneth Grant. Essentially these are little more than rays from the Yoni of Kali but there are 16 in Rankine's system and frankly I wasn't impressed with them. Rankine did say he attributed the Kalas to the five elements and eleven Astrological Planets traditionally used in Magick. The author further explains that the Kalas are charged sexual fluids used in a Microcosmic manner.

Everything up to page 121 to me was boring as it fed upon his discussions with the Kalas. The Trans Uranian Squares was an attempt to expound upon the seven Kameas of the Planets with adding Earth, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto to the fold. Instructions in using them were included.

The brief chapter on Creating Thoughtforms did nothing for me. Same old schlock with nothing new added. The last chapter on "Making Misery Magical" was simply how to conduct inner rites while you suffer from delirious symptoms of influenza and other such viruses.

Pages 135-157 are some Prime Qabalah numerical correspondences. While helpful, I found it of little value as I prefer to use such techniques for my own words and sentence structures.

The book does include a Bibliography and Index which is always helpful. I have no clue as to what the price of the book is because of the lack of a printed price on the cover or in the book. Mandrake's website is: mandrake.uk.net so if you want to check it out and maybe order a copy, do so there. I gave the book 2 out of 5 possible stars overall. David's original but the subject matter is highly entrenched in the Thelemic/Maat style of "Magick" which I personally find boorish. Again if that's your bag, then you'll probably love this book.

Self Initiation for the Solitary Witch: Attaining Higher Spirituality Through A Five-Degree System by Shanddaramon

If you're a newbie and need a set agenda on what to practice to get you to a decent level of magical and initiatory attainment, this book is a nice place to start. The idea is to take you thru the five elements and give you an opportunity to both follow a system yet give you enough flexibility to allow yourself to grow at your own pace.

One of the smallest (thankfully) sections is on the subject of ethics and frankly I think the author has heard the cry of the well seasoned practitioner to get on with the business of Witchcraft and forgo all the regurgitated arguments on how ethical a Witch needs to be. Sadly though the author does follow parrots favorite comparisons at how the ethics and belief in karma are intermarried but again it's a brief regurgitation so the bile does not rise up all that far in one's throat.

One of the other sad parts of this book is how the author continues to pass on misinformation regarding colors and in particular the color "black". In here the author seems to jump on the karma beleaguered bandwagon with this color being 'absorption'. Ugh! Why can't the author simply explain that black should be reserved for when one has to do not-nice things to someone and to use your best judgment before resorting to using it? Leave it up the discretion of the reader to make that distinction and not give out duck billed platitudes as guidelines. Frankly by watering down the color black by naming it for such useless thing as 'absorbing negativity' when in fact, White is best for the transformation of such energy, the author is passing along erroneous information.

Conversely beginning on page 157, we see the burgeoning seeker is taught the rudiments of opening their psychism in 'The First Steps of Psychic Work'. I have to applaud the author on his choice of methods to introduce the neophyte into the realm of psychism. Too bad though he did not include as many exercises as I would have liked to have seen in the book

The best thing I liked about the book is his section on Group Dynamics. Now this is a section that everyone who wants to start a study group or egads a coven should be forced to read! The section does mention that differing personalities can be conflicting within the group as well as how to deal with conflict and how to advise properly.

All in all, I give this book a rating of three stars as it does offer some decent material that's very well worthwhile for the Novice to learn from as well as some rudimentary basics on running a group be it for discussion or working. While the index is fairly comprehensive, the Suggested Reading List suffers from the same old books mentioned in every Wicca 101 book and most of the books mentioned are just that, 101 books themselves. Maybe one day the author will wake up to the fact that there are other books that are more advanced and on the intermediate level.

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The Kitchen Witch Companion by Patricia Telesco

Just what the neo-Pagan community needs, another culinary cookbook. While Trish does an excellent job with her writing talents, surely the subject matter couldn’t be more benign? Is this yet another new age fare brought out to merely take up space on B&N bookshelves? You know with all the Pagan food recipes in the various occult books, you’d presume that when Joe and Mary Sixpack thumb thru a Pagan book, they’d figure we do little more than relax, visualize and eat!

This now begs the question as to WHY there are no Ceremonial Magic culinary cookbooks out in print? Why there are no Vodu culinary cookbooks or Shamanistic culinary cookbooks? These practitioners eat too don’t they? Or is this truly a superfluous subject that only Wiccans seem to have in common?

My take is that food is a very individualistic thing. Putting together a culinary guide that covers all the recipes I’ll ever want is tempting however due to personal tastes as well as spontaneous hankerings for a certain “something” makes that a bit of a dream. For instance I have your typical Pillsbury & Betty Crocker cookbooks that I’ve picked up from yard sales over the years plus several other books dealing with Oriental cuisines and Hispanic foods as these two latter cuisines are my favorite.

Given the cheeky names of her subjects such as “Casseroles Coven-Craft”, “Barbecues and Blessed Be’s” and my personal favorite “Prayerful Poultry” (I’ve never seen any poultry pray), Trish tries to be serious by inserting folklore, legend and customs about how the various ingredients were used or prepared or outright shunned in various cultures.

Some of the recipes actually do look tasty but again the tongue-in-cheek names are almost hystericaly “Make It Count Beans” reminded me of the oncoming flatulence episodes of if you’re gonna pass wind, make it count even though she was speaking in terms of “bean counters”. LOL

All in all, it’s a cute book at best but not one I’d take all that seriously to aid your magical practices. Though this IS a “kitchen witch’s” guide still I don’t know of too many Wiccan practitioners who’ll be waiting until the right Moon phase before preparing Solar Goose or Self Control Cabbage.

The book does offer an index and bibliography and at twelve dollars and ninety-five cents I thought it a bit too much even with the interspersed folklore that I found interesting. I give this book a solid two out of five stars merely for it’s whimsical attitude of Wicca and culinary creations.

The Magick Bookshop by Kala Trobe

Well first off it's a book of fiction. This isn't some cover-up type of book that's hiding some mystic bookshop in London. Again it is merely a work of fiction.

I have to say I like Llewellyn's fiction FAR BETTER than it's non-fiction! Why? The stories are far more believable than the practices of pseudo-Magic that their authors regularly contribute as factually accurate material. Ms. Trobe's fiction is right up there with Dion Fortune's Dr. Taverner series.

The stories revolve around a bookshop owner that appeared to me as a cross between Uncle Al and John Dee mixed with a little of Jerry Lewis' Nutty Professor. There are some interesting stories and some boring ones however it's no worse than the Victorian era Fortune's Sea Priestess or Moon Magic novels.

The characters aren't all that well developed however if one remembers it's the techniques that Trobe's trying to get across, like her predecessor Fortune tried, then you'll forgive the book's shortcomings. Mind that you won't learn any deep secrets here but again in a fictional book setting, it's not supposed to be that way.

The price of the book is way overdboard in my opinion but like typical Llewellyn fare, you get the pretty cover in the 5 X 8 format. However $15 for a book of fiction is really steep when you can buy whole genres of books now all under one cover for less than $10.

If you must have it, try obtaining a used copy or wait until Llewellyn starts selling the overruns to the second hand shops which should fetch closer to its true value.

Overall I give rate this work one star. I felt disappointed in the stories overall and especially the character development. Trobe has some chops but she really needs to work on them. Writing fiction is not the same as writing how-to books and to be fair I have not read any of her how-to material so I can't say whether she's conquered that medium or not.

One thing I think Llewellyn should refrain from is having their own authors review the book & placing their opinions on the back covers. Why? In my opinion, this is a possible conflict of interest. Why should an author who's published by the same publisher say anything bad about the book s/he is reviewing? It just smacks of nepotism in my book.

Portable Voodoo by Voodoo Lou

For some odd reason I found this book in the New Age section at my local B n' N store but after reading it, I plan on telling the manager they need to stick this thing under the section of "Humor" because you simply cannot take this literally.

Okay so why did I buy it? First it was in the New Age section and I was rushing on my lunch break to find something interesting to read. Second, it's printed and prettily illustrated. Third it sort of reminds me of the "Dr. Snake Voodoo Spells" book which itself isn't great but not all that bad either. And finally, there is a "voodoo doll" that's set into the front cover thus the concept of "portable" voodoo.

After I began reading it at home is when I realized this is a farce. The author, Voodoo Lou aka Lou Harry, is more of a third rate hack comedian who's trying to ca$h in on the name of a Haitian magico-religion than anything. For the record let me say that the book is nicely put together. No qualms about that. It also includes a small package of "magical spell pins" (pause for the low Oohs and Aahs) inside a little packet just inside the front cover. Now I thought that was cute but come on really now. Lol

The spells inside can't be taken seriously either. They're written much like someone who's pulling your leg would tell you how they practice. The artwork is pretty but that's the only saving grace in the book outside of Lou's blatant humor.

If you're looking to learn, save your money and look elsewhere. The price I paid twelve dollars & ninety-five cents and that was horribly disappointing. However if you're looking for a gag-gift, this book is pretty cute and that's the best rating it'll ever get! If you wanna get rid of the idiot that keeps nagging you to teach him something about Vodu then you can give him this book and perhaps he'll merrily go off sticking the pins into the front of this book harming nobody.

Overall the book's humor is worth three stars but since I found it listed in the New Age section and it's intended to be amongst the serious books, I rate it one star. Sorry Lou but try writing something a little more substantial without the tongue in cheek approach and maybe it'll fare better next time.

The Answer Deck by Nicholas “Nicky” Zann

If you tire of verbose oracles that feature gads of symbolism which only overloads your subconscious, then perhaps you should try a simplistic oracle like this deck.

The Answer deck is designed for the modern individual as all of its symbolism is more or less art noveau in a black & white on red background.

The pros is that the deck is inexpensive at only eight dollars and ninety-five cents with a mat that lays out and shows you where to the lay the cards you draw from the deck. Then there is the accompanying booklet that spells out how to use the cards. Not much is said about interpretation because you’ll make up your own mind as to what the cards are telling you.

The cons are the deck is very small and if you have big hands this can be a problem. The cards don’t shuffle well for me. And the color scheme is quite bland but it’s supposed to be that way. Coloration can filter your subconscious mind to believe something is otherwise what it’s position is indicating.

For a beginner or someone who tires of the traditional Tarot laden with his symbols, this deck is a welcome choice. Use it for all of your day to day questions and revelations. I rate it a solid four out of five stars only because of the cons I listed above. If the cards were a little bigger and had more than three colors, I’d be ecstatic over them.

You can get the cards directly from www.runningpress.com so enjoy.